Chapter 4 - The Hidden Truth
Ruth entered first. Kiera dragged Sebastian after her as the nursery filled with gas.
The panel sealed behind them. The passage descended into darkness.
Sebastian’s breathing worsened.
Kiera wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“You are not dying before I get answers.”
Even half conscious, he managed, “You always give orders like this.
Only to billionaires who collapse inconveniently. Ruth led them to a maintenance room beneath the west wing. Monitors covered one wall.
On the largest screen, Arabella stood inside Sebastian’s study directing security guards to lock every gate.
She controls the house, Kira said. Not the original system, Ruth replied.
She removed the baby bracelet from the wooden box. Its clasp concealed a metal pin. Ruth inserted it console.
The monitors changed. A recording appeared of Elena Vale lying in a hospital bed holding two newborn babies.
One baby wore the bracelet marked SV. The other wore no name. A younger Ruth stood beside her.
Elena looked into the camera.
If my husband’s family sees this, both children are in danger.
My daughter inherits the Vale voting shares. My son inherits nothing until he turns 30.
They will try to replace one of them. Sebastian stared at the screen. So there were twins.
Ruth nodded. Elena gave birth to you and Kira.
But Arabella’s father, Victor Crest, changed the hospital registry.
Why? Because the Vale trust passed controlling ownership through the firstborn daughter. A son could be controlled.
A daughter could remove every Crest contract. Kira looked at Sebastian.
Then we are twins.
Ruth’s expression tightened.
No. The recording continued.
A masked doctor entered the room and lifted the baby wearing Sebastian’s bracelet.
Elena screamed. The video cut to static. Ruth closed her eyes.
The real Vale son died that night. Victor replaced him with another newborn from the charity ward. Sebastian stepped backward.
That newborn was me. Yes.
The truth struck him harder than the gas. Kira reached for him, but he pulled away. My entire life belongs to someone else.
No, Ruth said, your life belongs to you. The name was stolen, not your humanity. An alarm sounded.
May you like
Arabella had discovered the hidden passage. Heavy footsteps entered the nursery above. Ruth opened a cabinet containing three oxygen masks and an old ledger.
Take these.
